I Have to Tell Someone
by elsiecarson
Summary: Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes are in a relationship, but because of their positions at Downton they are in limbo. Mrs Hughes has to tell someone and Mr Carson tries to figure out how to advance their relationship and keep their jobs.
1. There's Always One More Thing

Mrs Hughes comes down the stairs hurriedly. Her keys jingle against her leg as she walks. She's already had a bad start to her morning and it doesn't look as if it's about to get any easier. She's had an argument with Mrs Pattmore and a disagreement in roles with Miss O'Brien. Now she's just been informed, by Her Ladyship, that His Lordship wants to have a shooting party this weekend. I'm not looking forward to telling Mrs Pattmore, Mrs Hughes thinks, and it only Monday! This week can only get worse! She pops her head into the kitchen warily.

"Yes, Mrs Hughes?" Daisy says politely. "Can I help you? Mrs Pattmore is out having a cigarette."

"Can you tell her that I just talked to Her Ladyship and there's to be a shooting party this weekend? I'd like to speak to her about the details." Mrs Hughes already sounds tired.

"Of course, Mrs Hughes. Mrs Pattmore isn't going to like that very much." Daisy sounds nervous.

"To be honest, Daisy, I'm not very happy either, but that's what His Lordship wants, and that's what will happen. Apologize to Mrs Pattmore and tell her I'll be in my sitting room when she's ready to discuss details." Mrs Hughes says heavily.

"Yes Mrs Hughes." Daisy says quietly. She continues to prep the meal Mrs Pattmore decided on for luncheon.

Mrs Hughes sighs heavily as she climbs the short flight of stairs to her sitting room. She unlocks the door and heads into the room. She sits on her sofa and puts her head in her hands. Her week has just gotten four times as hard as it was when she woke up this morning. She has to get the guest list from His Lordship so she can organize the rooms and the dinner table seating arrangement. She already feels tired and she hasn't even started all her work. She hears a knock at her door. She hopes it's Mrs Pattmore so she can go talk to His Lordship. "Come in." Mrs Hughes calls.

Mrs Pattmore enters the room. "I got your message from Daisy, Mrs Hughes. Does His Lordship really want to do this? Do we know who's coming?"

"It sounds like His Lordship is pretty adamant about having a shooting weekend. I haven't gotten the guest list from His Lordship yet. I'll let you know when I do get that list. Do you have any ideas about food for the weekend?" Mrs Hughes asks tiredly.

"I'll have a better sense of what I can make when I see the guest list, but I do have some nice game I can use for lunch the first day. When the game comes in from the first day of shooting I can use the game for dinner and lunch the next day. Are you alright Mrs Hughes? You seem out of sorts today." Mrs Pattmore tells Mrs Hughes.

"I'm just tired, Mrs Pattmore. I'll be alright. Thank you for your input. I'll go get the guest list from His Lordship and I'll copy one for you." Mrs Hughes tells Mrs Pattmore.

"Don't work too hard, Mrs Hughes. I'll see you later." Mrs Pattmore says gently before she leaves the room. Being of a similar age they try to look out for each other.


	2. Guest List

Mrs Hughes sighs after Mrs Pattmore leaves the room. She knows she has to get moving. She straightens her skirt when she stands up. She locks the door when she exits her sitting room. She picks up her skirts slightly as she moves up the stairs to the main floor of the house. She bumps into Mr. Carson in the front hall. "Is His Lordship in his library, Mr. Carson?"

"Yes, Mrs Hughes, he is in the library. Did I hear Her Ladyship say that we're hosting a shooting party this weekend?" Mr Carson asks looking down at the diminutive housekeeper.

"Yes, unfortunately we now have a great deal more to do this week. I'm going to see His Lordship and get the guest list from him. I hope we don't have too many guests." Mrs Hughes says sadly.

"I was hoping to have a nice, quiet weekend and get to spend some time with you." Mr Carson sighs heavily. "It's clear that's not going to happen now."

"No, I suppose it won't happen now, but we'll make time for us this week, I promise. Don't worry about it. We don't really get a choice in this anyway. I'll make time for you, even if it's early in the morning or late at night." Mrs Hughes says firmly.

Mr Carson leans over and kisses Mrs Hughes' cheek. "Thank you for reassuring me, Elsie." Mr Carson whispers into Elsie's ear.

"You're welcome, Charles." Elsie squeezes Charles' hand and smiles. "I've got to go talk to His Lordship. I'll see you at lunch." Charles and Elsie go their separate ways and Elsie heads in the direction of the library. She knocks on the door loud enough that His Lordship can hear her.

"Come in." Lord Grantham calls loudly so whoever's outside the door can hear him.

"Good morning, Your Lordship. Pardon me for interrupting." Mrs Hughes says as she enters the room.

"It's alright, Mrs Hughes. What can I do for you? Please sit down." Lord Grantham says cordially.

"Thank you, milord. I wished to find out who the guests will be for this weekend. We need to organize rooms and meals before we receive the guests." Mrs Hughes requests of her employer. She sits on the edge of one of the settees in the room.

"Of course, Mrs Hughes. I have the list right here. There aren't too many people coming since it was such short notice." Lord Grantham passes Mrs Hughes the list when he finishes writing it.

"Thank you, my lord." Mrs Hughes breathes a sigh of relief when she sees how short the list is. "I'll make sure that everyone gets this."

"Thank you, Mrs Hughes. Your dedication to this family is irreplaceable." Lord Grantham says sweetly.


	3. Reassurance

Mrs Hughes stands up with the paper in her hands and walks out of the library. She closes the door and leans against it.

"So, what's the verdict Mrs Hughes?" Mr Carson asks coming up to Elsie as she leans against the door.

"It's not as bad as it seemed when I first heard that we were to host a shooting party. There's only seven guests coming this weekend." Elsie shows Charles the guest list for the upcoming weekend.

"That's manageable, then. And all these guests have been in the house before, which makes this all much easier." Charles breathes a deep sigh of relief.

"Yes, it's very manageable. I'll get this down to Mrs Pattmore so she can begin managing to create a menu." Elsie says putting her hand gently on Charles' arm.

"You're so dedicated, Elsie. Don't be too harsh with Mrs Pattmore. She's just trying to do her job the same as you." Charles says gently.

"I'm not being overly harsh. We just clash. We're too similar. We'll be fine." Mrs Hughes says calmly.

"That's very good of you, Elsie. Don't work too hard." Charles reminds Elsie.

"I'd better get this down to Mrs Pattmore. She wasn't very happy when she heard about the plans for this weekend." Elsie says tiredly.

Elsie walks towards the servant's entrance to the main floor. Charles watches her go. He has a silly smile on his face.


	4. Caught and Confession

"You like her, Carson, don't you?" Lady Mary asks as she sneaks up on the butler. "You can tell me. I won't tell anyone."

Charles sighs. He can't keep secrets from Lady Mary. "Yes, I like her very much. We get along so well. We look after each other."

"Does she know how you feel?" Lady Mary asks Carson who's a father figure to her.

"Yes, she does know how I feel. We talked a while ago." Carson admits.

"Does she reciprocate your feelings?" Lady Mary wants more information from Carson.

"I wasn't sure at first when we were talking. She blushed when I told her how I feel. She does reciprocate my feelings. It feels wonderful." Carson admits to his favourite of the Crawley girls.

"Carson, you are sly! I'm glad you're happy though. I'll see you at lunch." Lady Mary says cheekily.

Charles breathes a sigh of relief when Lady Mary walks away. He quickly heads down to the servants' area and immediately looks for Elsie. He catches her going down the stairs towards the servants' dining room. "Elsie, I need to talk to you."

"Charles! What on earth is going on?" Elsie asks as she is pulled into an alcove.

"I was talking to Lady Mary upstairs. She knows about us. She isn't going to say anything to Lord Grantham, but I thought I should let you know." Charles whispers in Elsie's ear.

"How did she find out?" Elsie hisses, her Scottish accent coming out even more than usual.

"She saw me watching you walk away from me and she knew instantly how I was feeling. She knows me too well." Charles sighs heavily.

"You're sure she won't tell her father?" Elsie sounds desperate.

"She won't tell anyone because I asked her not to. She'd do anything for me." Charles says reassuringly.

"And so would I." Elsie stretches up and kisses Charles' cheek. "Now, let's go have lunch."


	5. Lunch and Concern

Charles takes a deep breath. He and Mrs Hughes walk quickly towards the dining room. Charles sits at the head of the table and Elsie walks down and sits at the other end of the table. The other servants watch their two seniors. They both seem ill at ease, which is unusual for the two of them.

"Are you alright, Mr. Carson?" Mr Bates asks as he looks carefully at his superior.

"I'm fine, thank you, Mr Bates." Mr Carson says sternly.

"Are you alright, Mrs Hughes? You seem out of sorts." Anna asks gently.

"Yes, Anna, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern." Mrs Hughes says kindly.

Mrs Pattmore comes into the dining hall carrying a large pot of soup and Daisy carries bread and butter.

"I'll let you serve the soup, Mrs Hughes." Mr Carson says politely.

"Giving me the opportunity to serve, Mr Carson? That's a dangerous proposition." Mrs Hughes teases.

"I trust you, Mrs Hughes. Now, does everyone want bread?" Mr Carson takes control of the situation. Mrs Hughes passes full bowls of split pea soup down the table. She sits down to her soup after she puts the pot on the sideboard. Even though Charles is sitting at the other end of the table, she can feel his eyes watching her closely. She gives him a sharp look, but his eyes don't waver. He's very confident and Elsie can feel the confidence radiate from him. She settles down to her soup and pretends that Charles isn't watching her.


	6. Are You Crazy?

Elsie leaves the dining hall first and hides in an alcove waiting for Charles to come by. She grabs his wrist and pulls him into the alcove next to her. "Could you be any more obvious?" Elsie hisses.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Charles says coyly.

"That's not true at all! You know exactly what I'm talking about. You were watching me all through luncheon. I wonder how many of our friends now know about us because you can't be discreet!" Elsie is frustrated with Charles.

"If Lady Mary knows, why can't our friends know? They won't tell His Lordship either. After all, everyone knew about Anna and Bates and no one told His Lordship. We can trust our friends. They trust us with all of their secrets." Charles says seriously.

"We won't have to tell our friends anything if keep behaving this way! They'll know by this afternoon tea time!" Elsie hisses at Charles.

"I'll try and be more discreet. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Elsie." Charles says gently.

"You didn't make me uncomfortable, Charles. I'm just a very private person and it's difficult enough around here to keep a secret and you're making it much more difficult to keep us between us." Elsie says reassuringly.

"If you wanted to keep this all secret why didn't you say so in the first place? I can't read minds, Elsie." Charles asks Elsie indignantly.

"I thought we understood each other! We've both lived at Downton long enough to know how hard it is to keep a secret! We also both know that we can't keep our jobs if we're found out." Elsie tries to appeal to Charles' logic.

"I know that. We haven't been discovered yet and I'm sure we can keep this within our colleagues and Lady Mary. You worry too much." Charles says seriously.

"I don't think I can worry too much about this. We could lose our livelihoods if we are discovered!" Elsie is getting more emotional the longer she talks to Charles.

Charles tries to calm Elsie down. He puts his arms around her and waits for her to relax. She takes a deep breath and wraps her arms around him. She leans her head on his chest. He can make her feel so much better. "We can't worry about everything all at the same time. Come and talk to me if you need to. We can sort everything out. I need to get back to work."

"I should get back to work too. Have you picked out the cutlery and dishware for dinner tonight?" Elsie asks as she steps away from Charles.

"No, I haven't yet. I'll do that when I come down from serving lunch. I'll see you soon, Elsie. I could use some help getting all the silver polished." Charles suggests to Elsie.

"Of course I'll help you. Come and knock on my sitting room door and we'll go polish silver if you want." Elsie wants to help Charles.


	7. Lunch Upstairs

Charles walks away from Elsie and climbs the stairs to serve lunch. He knows the footmen will already have carried the food upstairs. He's so happy with Elsie even though she is more concerned about her relationship with him than he'd like. Unfortunately they don't get to spend very much time together and he doesn't get to see Elsie relaxed very often and he doesn't get to see her in her regular clothes very often. Black doesn't suit her very well. It ages her more than any other colour. He smiles as he walks upstairs. He may not get a lot of personal time, but he can still daydream.

"Carson, we were about to start without you. Where have you been?" Lord Grantham asks his butler.

"Mrs Hughes and I had to have a conversation about the shoot this weekend. I'm sorry I'm late." Carson explains to his employer.

"That's alright Carson. We know that running this household is a large project." Lady Grantham says sympathetically.

Carson pulls his white gloves on and begins to serve lunch. He serves the cream of leek soup carefully. He's never been the best server of soup. He sets the soup tureen on the sideboard when he's finished serving.

"What did you have for lunch, Carson?" Lady Mary asks as she turns to look at the butler.

"Split pea soup and fresh bread. It was very good." Carson says as he refills everyone's wine glasses.

"Mrs Pattmore does make very good soup. I'm glad she's doing the soup kitchen. I'm sure she's making life much easier for people." Lord Grantham compliments their cook.

Carson clears the soup bowls and William runs them down to Mrs Pattmore. He serves the chicken pot pie to each member of the family and then comes around with the greens allowing each member of the family to serve themselves. He watches the family begin to eat. He smiles as he notices that the ladies start their meal by eating their greens whereas Lord Grantham has already driven his fork into the pot pie.

"Give my compliments to Mrs Pattmore, Carson. This is very good." Lady Grantham says politely.

"Of course my lady." Carson says solemnly.

"May I be excused, father? I have calls I have to make this afternoon." Lady Mary asks quietly. She refused to get as involved in the war effort as Edith and Sybil have become. She can't deal with the soldiers who are convalescing at Downton.

"Of course, Mary. Don't be too late coming home. Your grandmother is coming for dinner. She'll expect you to be here." Lord Grantham reminds his daughter.

"Yes father, I'll be home in time for dinner." Mary says politely. She allows Carson to pull her chair out for her. She kisses her father's cheek before she walks out of the room. Carson smiles as he watches Lady Mary walk away. She's turned into a lovely young woman, though Elsie wouldn't agree with him.

"Is there dessert, Carson?" Lord Grantham asks as he sets his cutlery down.

"Yes Your Lordship, Mrs Pattmore made stewed rhubarb and custard." Carson tells his employer.

"Yummy, I'll have some Carson, thank you." Lady Edith says with sparkling eyes.

Carson sets down a dish of warm rhubarb in front of Lady Edith and holds the bowl of custard for her to add as much custard as she wants.

"I'll have dessert, Carson." Lady Grantham requests of her butler. "I don't want as much as Edith though."

"I'll have dessert as well, Carson. You can give me a little more than Edith." Lord Grantham says with a gentle smile.

"Shall I take some dessert to Lady Sybil? She hasn't had anything to eat since breakfast." Carson asks as he serves the rest of the desserts.

"I'm sure she could use something. Thank you, Carson." Lady Grantham says sweetly.

"You're welcome, my lady." Carson says gently. He dishes up another serving of rhubarb and tops it with the amount of custard Lady Sybil likes. "Do you have everything you need from me?"

"Yes Carson. Take that to Sybil before it gets cold." Lord Grantham dismisses his butler.

Carson carries the dish of rhubarb and custard down the hall with a spoon. He knows Lady Sybil works very hard, but that doesn't mean she should skip meals. "Lady Sybil, I brought you something to eat. Your mother was concerned when you didn't attend luncheon." Carson says gently as he sets the dish down.

"Oh, my favourite! Thank you, Carson. Tell mother I will be at dinner. I know granny's coming to dinner." Sybil tells Carson.

"I'll tell her, milady. I wish you weren't working so hard." Carson says gently.

"I can't do anything else, Carson. I'd feel guilty if I wasn't doing anything." Sybil says seriously.

"I know, milady. You always were the one most concerned about people who need help, even when you were a little girl." Carson reminisces. "I'll bring you some tea later. Don't work too hard."

"I won't work too hard. Don't worry." Lady Sybil stands up and kisses Carson's cheek. He's always so concerned about the Crawley girls.


End file.
